HDDs typically comprise one or more discs. A transducing head carried by a slider is used to read from and write to a data track on a disc. The slider is carried by an arm assembly that includes an actuator arm and a suspension assembly, which can include a separate gimbal structure or can integrally form a gimbal. The slider typically includes slider bond pads connected to suspension bond pads on the suspension assembly through a thermal interconnect (TIC) process. In the TIC process, molten solder is applied between the slider bond pad and the suspension bond pad and subsequently cooled to form a connection.
Since the advent of the HDD, the form factor (size and shape) of sliders has been steadily decreasing. There has also been a trend to increase the number of bond pads for additional electrical connections to the slider. Consequently, size of bond pads as well as space between bond pads has also been decreasing. As these sizes get smaller, the chance of solder from one pair of bond pads (one slider pad and a corresponding suspension pad) undesirably bridging to an adjacent pair of bond pads (another slider pad and corresponding suspension pad) increases. In order to combat the bridging problem, it is possible to reduce the amount of solder used for each solder connection. However, reducing amount of solder used can introduce a new problem of decreasing the mechanical strength of each solder bond.